[eltocliousus]

I've been enjoying LCD-2s/HD800s for a while now (Bifrost/asgard/E10) however I'm very tempted to sell them and go with custom IEMs full time, a new portable DAC/AMP and then go with a flagship custom, my only worry is that I'll be losing quite a bit in doing so, I was just wondering what I may miss when doing this, can a portable setup be a desktop replacement?
 
I unfortunately can't afford to have both at this point in time, I have juggled with having a 'decent' portable setup as I have now, but I'd love to go all out on it as I enjoy the aesthics and feel of having a DAC/AMP ready to go out of the door with me, paired with some customs, giving me high-fidelity music wherever I go. But when I'm at home I feel I may miss the headphones, and it's a decision I can't make without any outside input.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Sound wise, you're not losing out, IEM's can get better quality per dollar easily. The only thing really that you may miss is comfort. You have to be really comfortable with IEM's for full time use.
 
Very best,

 

[eltocliousus]

Quote:

Heya,
 
Sound wise, you're not losing out, IEM's can get better quality per dollar easily. The only thing really that you may miss is comfort. You have to be really comfortable with IEM's for full time use.
 
Very best,

 
That's good to here MalVeauX, comfort isn't much of an issue for me, my current IEMs (4.Ai, B2s) don't give me any trouble as of yet with foam tips, I can only imagine customs being more comfortable.
 
I am worried about losing soundstage, surely an IEM can't compete with a headphone for soundstage, but I did hear the clarity and transparency of an IEM will win a headphone, I'm unsure about this though.
Clarity, vocal realism and soundstage are what I enjoy.
 
The benefit of CIEMs is I can use them at home listening, and then also use them outdoors with the exact same devices, two for one sort of speak, but I'm just very worried I'll miss the LCD-2s if I sell them and move to a flagship CIEM, and by then it's too late.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

 
That's good to here MalVeauX, comfort isn't much of an issue for me, my current IEMs (4.Ai, B2s) don't give me any trouble as of yet with foam tips, I can only imagine customs being more comfortable.
 
I am worried about losing soundstage, surely an IEM can't compete with a headphone for soundstage, but I did hear the clarity and transparency of an IEM will win a headphone, I'm unsure about this though.
Clarity, vocal realism and soundstage are what I enjoy.
 
The benefit of CIEMs is I can use them at home listening, and then also use them outdoors with the exact same devices, two for one sort of speak, but I'm just very worried I'll miss the LCD-2s if I sell them and move to a flagship CIEM, and by then it's too late.

 
Heya,
 
Sound stage is not that big of a loss. But it depends what you mean. If you mean instrument/sound separation, then the IEM's can do it just fine, you're not losing that. That's typical of sound stage. But if you mean the 3D aspect of some headphones (like the HD800 for example) which is rather artificial and generated via angled drivers, cup dynamic, etc, then yes you lose that to an extent with IEM's. But you can still get nice sound stage in IEM's, just like closed headphones can, it's not a massive loss. Since you're talking about the LCD2 for example which has a limited sound stage for an open headphone, I don't think you'll be missing much if anything.
 
Very best,

 

[eltocliousus]

Quote:

 
Heya,
 
Sound stage is not that big of a loss. But it depends what you mean. If you mean instrument/sound separation, then the IEM's can do it just fine, you're not losing that. That's typical of sound stage. But if you mean the 3D aspect of some headphones (like the HD800 for example) which is rather artificial and generated via angled drivers, cup dynamic, etc, then yes you lose that to an extent with IEM's. But you can still get nice sound stage in IEM's, just like closed headphones can, it's not a massive loss. Since you're talking about the LCD2 for example which has a limited sound stage for an open headphone, I don't think you'll be missing much if anything.
 
Very best,

 
Again great to here, by soundstage I did mean seperation, I very much dislike music that sounds muffled together.
 
In that case I think the move to CIEMs may be a good idea, I still feel like I'm missing something though, how can something so small sound just as good as something so large? A misnomer I know, but it is always in the back of my head!

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

 
Again great to here, by soundstage I did mean seperation, I very much dislike music that sounds muffled together.
 
In that case I think the move to CIEMs may be a good idea, I still feel like I'm missing something though, how can something so small sound just as good as something so large? A misnomer I know, but it is always in the back of my head!

 
Heya,
 
How can headphones do what speakers do? Just another way to look at it.
 
They're all air pumps. When you seal the chamber (your ear), the pump only has to be able to displace that amount of air. Smaller pumps can achieve the same pressure displacement in smaller volumes. Look at it like that, instead of like a magical device, and it'll make sense.
 
Very best,

 

[ProjectDenz]

You might miss the excellent soundstage and imaging the full sized cans give and also the way the full sized cans move much more air better than iems to give that satisfying bass impact. Ciems will always have that 'in your head' feel if that bothers you. Sound clarity will be around the same level when comparing flagship ciems with things like the LCD2/HD800.
 
I have the JH13 Pro, and I'm too paranoid to take it around for my travels. There's too many bottlenecks in a high end portable set up to be worth all that extra money compared to a home set up in my opinion, and with all the noise around you you will not hear all the details anyways which is why I also never take my JH13 Pro out with me. I think you would miss your HD800/LCD2, but that is my opinion.